Better
by Compactor
Summary: Jennifer is alive, what a great miracle!
1. Prologue

**Better**

_**Prologue**_

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><p>"Are you sure you are going to be alright?", Dwight asked as soon as they got at Cape Rouge and he managed to get Duke on bed. He wasn't sure if Duke would get any sleep or even try to do so, but given the amount of alcohol in his blood wanting it or not, he was going to pass out at some time.<p>

"Uh-hum", Duke slowly replied. As soon as he closed his eyes, he started to snore and Dwight found himself relieved for his friend finding some peace and managing to get some sleep, even if it was for short period of time. The things Duke was going through... Dwight knew exactly what he was going through.

Dwight stayed there for a few more minutes, wanting to make sure that Duke wouldn't wake up and that everything would be fine. After what seemed half hour he finally left and hoped everything would be ok to his friend.

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><p>Suddenly, it felt like the strenght that was taken from her was back.<p>

Jennifer was confused. The last thing she remembered is that she was in the cave and passed out, then, she stopped breathing. She didn't know how long it had been, but she woke up in the middle of what looked like one of the woods of Haven.

It was dark and cold and Jennifer would do anything to be at Cape Rouge, under the blankets.

She got up and rubbed the dirt off her clothes. Her whole body was aching and she had no idea where to go. She took a deep breath and started walking to the direction she thought it was right one.

After a few miles she started hearing noises. Not the typical ones, but the ones she used to hear when Audrey was Lexie and she started to wonder what had happened while she was unconscious. Was she in Haven or was she trapped in the other world? Was she going to start to hear voices again?

_"You won't be taken away from this world so easily"_, It was a man's voice and sounded anything but harsh. Actually, it was sweet, like it was trying to comfort her. It didn't help, though, the memories of when everything started were going through her mind again: the fear, the paranoia and once again she was wondering if she was crazy. The barn was destroyed, where was that voice coming from?

_"Keep walking", _the voice said and she started to shiver again. Jennifer should be used to it by now, but she found herself scared. Scared because if it isn't coming from the barn, where is it coming from?

_"You still have a lot of work to do in this town. Keep going", _she knew it wasn't her mind telling her to keep going. The feel, the feel was too familiar: the same feel she felt when she was hearing Duke's, Howard's, Nathan's and Audrey's voice all at once inside her head.

"Stop!", Jennifer yelled, "stop it, alright? I get it. I have to keep going and I will so, please, just stop."

And she did so. It had been hours when she finally got to civilization again.

Jennifer was more than happy when she saw Cape Rouge at the marina like it was were. She smiled at herself when her thoughts went for Duke. Knowing him, he was almost waking up: the sun was rising and he liked waking up early to do his yoga.

She climbed on Rouge and went straight to their room and Duke… well, he looked miserable. He was sleeping and he looked miserable and she wondered what had happened the last hours she was gone.

Jennifer climbed on the bed and laid beside him, "Duke?", she tried to say but sounded more like a whisper.

_"You can rest. For now", _the voice said and Jennifer realized she hadn't heard him since she yelled in the middle of the woods. But the funny thing now, Jennifer realized, is that she wasn't scared. Not even close to it because, now she had Duke again she felt safe, she felt like nothing would hurt her.

Jennifer closed her eyes and put her hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. She just hoped everything would be alright now they were together again.

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><p><strong>AN: I really, really love Jennifer and I sure as hell love Dukifer and I didn't like the fact Jennifer died so, I decided to write an AU of how would have been if she had survived and how she survived. Enjoy!**


	2. Acceptance

It felt like hell. When was the last time he had drank like this? Probably it was the first time. It felt like someone was pressing his skull and his brain was trying to get out. The room's clarity wasn't helping much either. Why did he drink that much? Oh yeah, then he remembered. She was dead. The person he most loved in the whole world was dead.

Duke finally opened his eyes and saw someone's hand resting on his chest. He was so focused on the pain and on the nausea that he didn't even feel someone's presence there with him.

He glanced a look at whoever's was on his side and his eyes widene. Was that some kind of bad joke? Instinct made Duke push her away from him and her body fell on the floor, given how much strenght he used. Then, he heard her groaning. Duke didn't find himself relieved, he found himself scared.

"What's wrong with you?!", Jennifer angrily asked, "do you have any idea how much I had to walk to get here? Well, let me tell you, a lot. I walked more than five hours, Duke. Five hours!"

She was angry and her sharp voice wasn't helping him with the headache either. Was he seeing things now? Was it some kind of new Trouble Nathan didn't tell him about?

"Say something!", Jennifer yelled because well, she didn't get it. Why was he so shocked? He was supposed to be happy and then she would make him coffee while he took a shower. He obviously drank a lot, that was written all over his face and the drinking made him look miserable.

"You", he tried to say, "you are dead. I buried you. Oh, God", Duke got up from the bed and started rubbing his eyes. His breath was hard and he was panicking. It's not that he wasn't happy in seeing her, it's what he was wishing the most the whole time. Duke was more than happy. He was just scared of nothing of that being real and just his ming playing tricks on him.

She wasn't dead. She was anything but dead - her body was aching and she felt awful for not remembering anything after the whole Lighthouse collapsed - and that information caught her by surprise and it made everything inside her ache more than already was. Specially because she was hearing it from Duke - how much she made him suffer, how much he was suffering because of it now but mostly because hearing she was dead -.

But Jennifer didn't feel like it. She was breathing the same air he was breathing and she just... didn't feel that. She was feeling the same way she felt last week and the same way she felt last month.

She shook the thoughts away from her because now, now she needed to focus on Duke. Looking at him, she could clearly see that he was calmer, but still trying to deal with the whole situation.

Jennifer walked closer to him and put her hand on his cheek and made him look at her. Her hands felt warm and solid against his skin, like a real person's.

"Hey", she softly whispered and looked at him in the eyes, "I'm not dead. I'm here and I'm real and I can guarantee you I'm not going anywhere without you", it was weird having him there and being the one picking up the pieces. Usually, it was the contrary: whenever she was feeling upset about the whole adoption situation, about why her parents didn't want her - was she that unwanted? - or about why she was the choosen one to be the Child of Ruin, Duke was the one that would help her to deal with the tears, he was the one that would put a smile on her face again.

Duke traced his fingers on her forehead, then close to her eyes and on her little nose. She always teased herself about it, but he loved every single part of her and he always told her how beautiful she was. Then, he traced her lips and Duke finally felt like it was real. She was there, she was Jennifer Mason he always knew. She also didn't smell like a corpse and he decided he would take that.

Duke leaned down and passiontely kissed her lips, like it was the last kiss they would ever share, like he would never see or taste her again. They only were apart for a few hours but still felt like a lifetime. Damn, probably because for him it would be a lifetime and he would give anything to kiss her again.

"I love you, Jennifer Mason", Duke whispered against her lips once they pulled apart, "I love you an I always will", because it was the truth and because he should have said a long, long time ago.

"I know", and she did but actually hearing from him for the first time made everything real.

"You do? And how do you know?", He mumbled against her lips.

"I know because..." she planted a little kiss on his lips, "... because it's mutual. I love you and I always will, Duke Crocker."

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><p><strong>AN: Writing this was the best thing ever. Duke wasn't sad because Jennifer was alive and he feels really bad for pushing her out of his bed, he was just in shock, that's all. This story is making me feel so much better about everything and I'm so thankful because I'm getting a great feedback, which is what is motivating me to keep writting. Thanks for reading, thanks for leaving kudos and thanks for commeting, I appreciate very much.**

**I don't know when Chapter 3 will be out, but I'm sure it'll be soon.**


	3. Voices

**Better**

_**Voices**_

Duke watched Jennifer carefully as she made coffee for both of them. Her hair was wet from their shower and she had changed from her outside and dirty clothes to her pyjamas, they decided to stay home for the day, one because after he explained the situation to her, she understood that people really believed she was dead and two because he still wasn't feeling like dragging his ass out of the boat to check on Grey Gull and he was pretty sure he wouldn't do that any time soon. He had a second chance to be with her and he wouldn't waste working.

Duke never really noticed the little things about Jennifer. Sure, he loved everything on her and loved Jennifer for just being Jennifer but he almost never noticed what made her be Jennifer. The bright eyes when she was happy, the way her hair curled once it was getting drier and drier, the way she was grumpy in the mornings, but as soon as she had a hold on her coffee, Jennifer would start smile. He never noticed these things, but the thought of losing her, indeed losing her, made him do it. Duke never realized how important she was for him, he would say he was ungrateful before everything, even.

"Are you there?", Jennifer asked once she settled the mug of coffee in front of him and sat besides him, caressing cheek.

"Yeah", he simply replied, "I'm just... in shock. It's great having you here but Jennifer, I swear to god, I saw your dead body and I buried you. It was one of the most painful things I've ever experienced and I don't mean to hurt you anyhow but you were dead."

"I'm sorry you had to go though that", Jennifer kissed his cheek. The pain was evident on his face and he probably would still be in shock for a few hours. If she was in his place, she would find hard to believe as well. Jennifer could see that Duke was more than happy, but in shock because the whole thing he told her about what happened while she was missing... it was awful. She didn't like the idea of people thinking she was dead, either, "but that body, Duke, it wasn't mine. I'm not a spirit or a crazy supernatural ghost. I'm the same Jennifer Mason you met a few months ago in that hospital room."

"Who was it, then?"

"I don't know", now her finger was running though his hair, trying to calm him down because Duke clearly was getting exalted. And not in a good way, "but it wasn't mine. See? I'm here", she repeated.

"Yeah... you are", he looked at her and gave her a warm smile. The smile reached his eyes this time. He was so lucky for having her back, for Jennifer getting a second chance again. She, before everyone else, deserved it. Right now, Duke didn't even care if she decided she wanted to leave him and leave Haven, as long as she was safe he would be happy.

Jennifer leaned looked up to him and kissed him again. Then grabbed her own mug and took a sip, "I think we should call Nathan and let people know I'm fine."

Duke gave her a look like she had grown a third head, "we're not telling anyone about it."

"We can't do this Duke", she replied too fast, "pretenting I'm dead is a crime and I sure as hell don't want to be arrested and don't like the idea of people thinking I'm dead."

"That's not the point, sweetheart."

"Then what's the point? Tell me", because she didn't like the situation they were getting into.

"The point is: Mara was looking for you and she said she has a job for you. Now, I'm pretty sure she knows you're 'dead' and Nathan thinks that as well. They find out, she comes after you. I'm not losing you again, Jennifer. Nothing and no one is going to take you away from me again."

"I know but this is crazy, Duke. We can't pretend I'm not here until Mara is gone either", she rubbed his cheek with her thumb, "how long is that going to last? Maybe weeks, maybe months or even years. I won't be trapped inside Rouge for so long just so I'll be safer."

Duke didn't want to fight. She was right but at the same time she wasn't. He wanted her there and he wanted her safe but after all, she was right. They couldn't pretend she was dead but he didn't want anyone behind her either, "fine. You're right. I'll call Dwight later and we'll see what we have to do to... relive you."

"Thanks for understanding me", she got closer to him and kissed his forehead. It seemed like everything was finally working out the way they should for them.

Duke smiled as she kissed him, "it's okay, sweetheart. I get what you mean, if it was me I wouldn't like either", then, he looked at her and smiled warmly at her, "I love you."

"I love you too", Jennifer said and his smile gew even bigger. A comfortable silence grew between them when she finally blurted out, "uh, did you say that Mara told you that she has a job for me?"

"She actually told Nathan before shooting him but yeah, she did. Why?"

"I kinda... uh, I kinda started hearing voices again, you know? And whoever he is said that my work isn't done in this town and that I wouldn't be taken away from this world so easily. Whatever that means", Jennifer said too fast, but still quietly like she was telling that to herself. Now she said out loud for someone else it didn't make her feel any less crazy.

Duke was shocked. The barn was destroyed and Jennifer herself told him that once it was destroyed, she wouldn't be able to hear anything else. Where that was coming from, he didn't know, "what else did he tell you?"

"Nothing else besides 'you have to get to the city and you have to get there fast'. Last time I heard anything was when I got to the Rouge at 5 a.m. or sometime around that. Weird enough, it was kinda familiar, like a voice I don't hear in a long, long time ago."

"Huh", he replied as he took a sip of the coffee, "what are we going to do about it? It may be helpful."

Jennifer shruged, "I don't hear him since I fell asleep and without new instructions I can't really do anything."

"Ah", he said and pulled her to a hug, "guess we're not taking that trip to Australia I talked about, are we?"

Jennifer wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, "don't worry, as soon as I get my documents back we'll go: with or without voices."

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><p><strong>AN: Biggest chapter ever and totally one of my favourites. Thanks for reading, everyone, I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am.**


	4. Past

**Better**

_**Past**_

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><p>As promised, Duke called Dwight later that day. He didn't tell him anything besides that he needed to meet up with him at Gull the following day because he'd rather tell him face to face than doing it on the phone. Duke still wasn't sure wether telling Nathan or not because if he told him, he was sure Mara would find out somehow. She always did.<p>

And that was why a little bit past 6 they were at Grey Gull. Some of his employees gave them confused looks — small town notices spread fast — but Duke happily explained them the situation and if the information left Gull, he wouldn't even care to find out who leaked, all of them were fired.

Jennifer was happily helping Karen to get everything ready before opening up. Duke didn't know how she did it, but she was acting like nothing happened to her. Like it was thie usual mornings, when they would wake up, have breakfast at Gull and then she'd left for work.

Duke was watching her from the porch when he saw Dwight coming closer to him, "you look… less miserable."

He gave him a small smile and decided to ignore what Dwight had said and go to the point, "she's alive."

Dwight frowned and then just shook his head when he finally got it what Duke meant, "I know it's hurting on you. Believe me, I do. But you'll have to accept before you start some—"

"— start what? Look, I'm not the problem here. If a Trouble starts kicking around this town, it won't be my problem", but right. They needed to talk about Jennifer, "she's inside helping Karen."

"What, seriously?", Dwight asked and Duke nodded his head and smiled at himself.

"She doesn't remember anything, though. The last thing she remembered is that she stopped breathing and then she woke up in the middle of the woods, kinda far away from Haven."

"Are you sure it isn't a Trouble? Or that you're seeing things now?"

Duke pointed at Jennifer, who was happily wrapping the cutlery around the napkins while talking about something with Karen. She looked excited and Karen as well got a smile on her face. He wasn't sure if it was because she was happy because Jennifer was back — they got along as soon as Duke introduced each other —, or because the subject they were talking about was exciting. Maybe both, "you tell me. She seems pretty real for me. Damn, she even fells real."

"She looks real", Dwight smiled at Jennifer. He liked her. They didn't talk much but it didn't mean he wanted her dead either. Jennifer could keep Duke sane and on line, "I'm happy for you. And for her."

"Yeah, me too", he was still looking fondly at Jennifer, with a dumb smile on his face. Jennifer looked at him and smiled at him as well before returning to her conversation with Karen. He turned to Dwight and lowed his tone, in case Jennifer listened something what he was going to say, "I need you to keep me updated on Mara and Nathan. What they're doing and what is going on. Neither of them is getting close to her until I'm sure she's safe."

Dwight gave him a confused look. Now Duke was asking him to act like a babysitter? But sure, he could keep an eye on them, "Even Nathan?"

"Specially him. I don't see a reason why Mara would try to look for me but as soon as Nathan finds out, Mara will as well — I just know somehow — and then, Jennifer's dead, just like this and it won't happen again."

"Fine", he replied after a while, "I'll do it."

"I knew I could count on you."

It was his little girl they were talking about, not just someone they had met in a random parallel universe.

The Underworld was a complicated world to understand. If you were a good person, you would get good things and if you weren't then you would be lost in the darkness with dangerous creatures. Gladly, Misham was the Child of Ruin's guardian and and he and Howard worked together to keep everything at peace. Howard gone, there was only him and a few others to keep doing the work.

Jennifer wasn't exactly his daughter, but it sure felt like she was. Right after she was born, Jennifer was sent to a lovely couple in Boston that were trying to have a child for two years and after so many fails they opted for adoption. The kid would have a normal childhood and a normal life, away from Haven, which was exactly what he wanted. Misham didn't care about the Troubles or if the city itself was burning down. He only cared about Jennifer, his little girl.

Misham played the social worker and only talked directly to Jennifer once in a year when he payed a visit to the Mason's, but he was always around — watched her go to the school for the first time, was there at her graduation afternoon, made sure they were taking good care of her.

Misham had been through this for centuries now but he didn't get why he was so attached to Jennifer. Maybe because he had something to do with everything. From her birth to having to give her for adoption.

"I just don't get it why we have to kill her, just like this", he hissed through his mouth. He was done with that bullshit, "it's not done like this, Aiden."

"Oh, it is done like this", the other man replied, "she did something she shouldn't have done, in the first place. You have to pay for the wrong things you do in life and I'm sure you know this better and than anyone else in this room."

Misham frowned as he stroked his chin,"you don't need to remind me this everytime we have to talk about what has been happening in Haven."

"But you," Taj, the man sitting across both of them said, "you said you'd make sure she wouldn't go back to Haven, you said you'd make sure she was safe and sound."

"What can I do about it? She's a grown woman now and I'm sure she doesn't remember the 'social workers' visits", Misham replied back, "I'm also sure you said you'd make her Trouble never snapped."

"Sadly it isn't something we can control", Aiden calmly replied, trying to avoid another fight between the other two men, "Nathan wasn't supposed to and kill Howard. He killed Howard, put Audrey in danger and that started everything. If you want blame someone, blame him."

Misham rolled his eyes. That wasn't going to get anywhere and they were just losing time, "look, I'm just asking for one more chance, nothing else. I'm supposed to take care of her, and I didn't do it the way I should've. I'll keep an eye on her and I can make sure she won't make any other mistakes."

Taj and Aiden exchanged looks, "one more chance and that's it. She dies one more time, we're not reliving her again. We clear?"

Misham smiled at himself, "crystal."

"There's one consequence, though", Taj said before Misham start to focus on Jennifer and giving her instructions, "she won't be able to remember anything that happened. You have to make sure she doesn't rememember the schizophrenia, Haven and that lover of hers, Duke."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen", Misham closed his eyes and opened a random door, the further away from Haven and Jennifer stayed there for more than two hours, until she woke up. Happily, Misham didn't follow the rules. He knew Jennifer was happy with her life the way it was, and he wouldn't change that just because two members of the Council didn't agree with that.

When Jennifer finally started walking, he finally started, "You won't be taken away from this world so easily."

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><p><strong>AN: I'm sorry on the lack of updates but I had a hard time writing this because, well, it feels like I have nothing to write about even though this story has a plot… I just don't know how to put everything together. So, here's a random chapter with a little bit of Jennifer's past.**


	5. Boston

**Better**

_**Boston**_

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><p>Jennifer bolted upright from her sleep. She was sweating and it felt like her heart was in a race. Her breath was fast but at the same it was being hard to breath. She wasn't only hearing things now, but she was seeing them too?<p>

It was all blurred and Jennifer couldn't see their faces, but she could see they were in an office and she heard them talking about her, about whether Jennifer should be brought back to life and how she wasn't supposed to remember Duke or Haven. The thought scared her because Duke was one of the most important things in her life now. Jennifer couldn't imagine herself without him now and by how he reacted when she got to Rouge after the whole Lighthouse situation, Jennifer was sure Duke couldn't imagine himself without a world without her either.

Where those men were, it was a dark place. Jennifer didn't see the creatures that were out there, but she could feel them. She could feel the creatures, she could feel the way the other men in the room felt about them and about her situation. There were three men and only one of them really cared about her. It was almost like... a _paternal_ feeling, like the way a father feels about his child. Was he her...?

No. Her biological parents were from Haven and unfortunately, they had passed away before she got the chance to meet them. Whoever he was, he cared about her. Jennifer knew he was showing that to her to make her feel calmer, but it was doing nothing but making her feel more and more scared.

Jennifer couldn't help but try to focus on remembering the voice again. Even if it scared her that everything was coming all at once, she wanted to remember. Somehow, she knew it was important.

Duke woke up from his sleep and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer and breaking the line of her thought. Jennifer felt a lot safer with his arms around her and settled herself back on the mattress again, relaxing again at the touch of his fingertips on her scalp and gentle kisses on her cheek, "what's gotten on you, midget?"

Jennifer smiled at the nickname. She didn't even remember how and when Duke started to call her a midget, but she did remember Duke calling her all the time in front of people and her getting mad about it. Stupid reasons, really, "supernatural connections. It's just upseting me that I'm not only hearing things, but now I'm seeing them too."

Duke opened his eyes and stopped doing what he was doing for a moment. Jennifer shifted so she would be staring at his eyes. She started to tell him everything - she wasn't supposed to remember anything; not him and sure as hell not haven, how she remembered that voice; she had heard it a lot of times but no matter how much Jennifer tried whose it was, everything would vanish of her mind and she would end up remembering what he said, but not his voice or the tone he used. It was frustrating, in the least. Jennifer was fighting with herself to hold her own tears.

The thought of her not remembering him and everything they went through, of not having Jennifer there with him in that moment and not having her on his arms right now, it was nausiating. It made him feel weak and made his chest ache. Duke had no idea how much he loved her until he indeed lost her, "I'm sorry, sweetheart. We'll figure this out, I promise. Maybe - maybe we just need more time, that's all."

"I've been waiting long enough, Duke. I want get this settled _now. _I didn't like hearing voices when Audrey still was in that barn and I don't like it now either. I also don't like having visions or whatever this is. I want my life back, that's all", she snuggled closer to him and bumped their forehead together, "I want my documents back and then I want to go to Australia with you. Just like we promised each other."

"Maybe forget Haven and the Troubles for a while", Duke mused. It sounded way too good to be true, "about the documents - we should go to Boston and take them there, since you were raised in Boston. We could take them here in Haven, but in Boston will be much easier and probably faster."

Jennifer's face lightened up and she smirked, "can we go once the sun rises, then?"

Duke left a small chuckle out and laid his hand on her cheek and made small circles with his fingertips, "I need to get some things sorted before going, but we'll go before this week ends. What about we rest? It'll be morning soon and we won't even notice it once it arrives."

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><p>Duke climbed on Rouge to see Jennifer reading in the living room, while a random tv show they used to watch aired. She wasn't paying attention on anything besides the book. The past few days, it was such a rare thing to see Jennifer relaxing, doing anything besides staring at 'Unstake My Heart' trying to find clues, reading over and over again and watching her read something besides that... it made him happy.<p>

"What are you reading?", Duke got closer and laid his hand on the top of her head. Jennifer looked up at him and gave Duke space to sit besides her and he did so.

"Nothing. Just something I found around the boat and, you know, I don't have a job anymore. I've been getting a little bored", Jennifer turned her gaze to the book before tossing it on the coffee table. She jumped to his lap and kissed his lips, "hi. How was your day, though?"

Duke groaned as she broke the kiss and wrapped his arms tighter around her, "boring. Worked at Gull and then I went downtown to pick some boxes up and then I came back to Rouge."

"I'd rather work at Gull than do nothing the whole day", Jennifer rested her head on his chest, enjoying his heat and the proximity between both of them. It felt way too long since they had done anything like this when it actually were just a few hours apart from him.

Duke kissed her cheek and start to run his finger through her hair, "I'd rather stay at Rouge and spend the whole day with you."

"That... would be good too, I'd take that", Jennifer smiled and gave him a small kiss.

"Oh, and, by the way, I got... things settled and we're going to Boston on Wednesday, if that helps you in any way."

"Seriously?!", Jennifer smirked a bright smirk. It was all she wanted the last few days and to be honest, she missed Boston. Staying in a small town was great and people were pretty welcoming but she missed having things to do - not that Haven's local movies weren't good, no, they were, but Duke and she went there every weekend.

Duke smiled at her excitment. Changing would be good for both of them, "seriously and you are going to show this tourist things he can't do in Haven."

Jennifer laughed and hugged him, "you promise me we are going?"

"I promise you, sweetheart."

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the lack of updates, I really am — it was exams week and I barely had any time to write anything besides some drabbles. I'm still trying to figure where this is going and what's going to happen and I'll do my best to keep updating as soon as possible.**


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